Ukrainian Council Urges Plans for Jewish Colonization Next Three Years

(Jewish Telegraphic Agency Mail Service)

The drawing up of plans to meet the needs of the Jewish land settlers for the next three years, was urged by the Ukrainian Central Executive Council.

The Council, after considering a report submitted to it by a commission specially appointed to report on the position of the Jewish colonists, adopted the following resolution:

“Taking into consideration the difficult economic position of the Jewish town population as well as the great importance of drawing them into productive work the Central Executive decides that Jewish land settlement must be considered as a problem of State importance and that the respective Soviet Institutions should interest themselves in this work. The Central Executive Committee takes note of the report of the Ministry of Agriculture stating that during the current year of 1926, 50,000 desiatin of land have been allocated in the Ukraine for Jewish land settlement and that settlement orders for 1,885 families have been distributed up to March 6th and for 1,455 families during June. The distribution of the remaining settlement orders is assured.

“In regard to the internal organization of the Jewish collectives, the principle should be maintained that the settlers shall be given full freedom to decide themselves on whatever form of combination they desire.

“It is desirable to draw the Jewish land settlement collectives more into the general network of cooperatives. The cooperatives should provide special instructors to communicate with the Jewish settlers in their mother tongue. Recognizing the need of setting up in the places of Jewish land settlement administrative territorial organizations (village councils and district councils) the district executive committees are asked to submit their proposals on this matter. In order to make it possible to set up administrative territorial units in the places of Jewish land settlement, the Central Executive Committee regards it as necessary to allocate wherever possible to the Jewish population unoccupied land from the colonization areas to enable the Jewish colonies to be linked together. The Commissariat of Agriculture is to submit during the next month a detailed plan with regard to the land distribution system.

“Taking into consideration the fact that the extent of the Jewish land settlement work is not of sufficient scope and does not satisfy the needs of the Jewish impoverished masses, and taking into consideration also the limited means of the Ukrainian colonization Fund, the Central Executive Council asks the Commissariat for Agriculture to explain to the Comzet whether it is possible to allocate for Jews during 1927 a part of the land of the Ukrainian Colonization Fund. The Central Soviet Government is also asked to consider the possibility of allocating a corresponding portion of land from the all-Soviet Land Fund for Jewish settlement during 1927 and to grant the necessary costs. A plan is to be drawn up providing for the work of Jewish land settlement for the next three years in such a way that it should satisfy the most urgent land settlement needs of the Jewish settlers proceeding to the Ukraine, and to include in the 1926-27 budget of the Ukrainian Commissariat of Agriculture, special assignation for Jewish land settlement.”